On Wednesday's NBC Today, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd was looking for any excuse to be an Obama spokesman as made this declaration about the announced retirement of Maine Senator Olympia Snowe: "...she's serving as a personal testimonial to the President, who says there's no more centrist coalition inside the Republican Party." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
On Tuesday, ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer praised the liberal GOP legislator as, "The principled voice of reason in some of the most contentious debates in Washington..." and noted how fellow Maine Senator and Republican moderate Susan Collins was "absolutely devastated by this decision."
In addition to mourning the loss of Snowe's moderation, NBC and ABC simultaneously predicted doom for Republican chances of taking back the Senate in November. On Today, Todd proclaimed: "...this almost assures that it's a better than 50/50 chance Democrats hold control of the United States Senate."
All of the news briefs cited Snowe's reasons for leaving. Williams explained: "Olympia Snowe of Maine, ranked the most moderate Republican in the Senate, says the partisanship in Washington has become too much." Sawyer exclaimed: "...she's just tired of the gridlock." Elliott remarked: "She says that she's frustrated by the current climate of partisan rancor and gridlock."
Interestingly, CBS made no mention of Snowe's retirement on Tuesday's Evening News or Wednesday's This Morning.
